Adding a subwoofer to a stereo system.

[admin_exported]

This is what I currently have in storage. B&W CDM-1NT, CDM-CNT, B&W 602S, Rel Q150E, Pioneer THX Ultra. This sounds pretty good for what is 8 years old. But it is way too big to fit into my new house in Newbury. I can only take the B&W CDM-1NTs. For playing music I have a Cambridge Audio A3i which is close to 10 years old. While it sounds very very good with these speakers I miss the extra bass that comes from the subwoofer. I can't connect the A3i to the subwoofer as it doesn't have pre-outs. So I am asking advice on what stereo amplifier I should change to, so I can connect the Rel Q150 and the CDM-1NTs at the same time. Not entirely sure about budget but I don't want to spend more than 600 om the amp.

Also. How exactly would I connect the Rel Q150E to the amp? On the multi-channel amp it was simply a case of putting a single phono lead from the amp to the sub, but the pre-outs on the amp are L-R. I do have two phono-inputs, but one is marked 0db and the other is marked 12db. I have no idea what this means and the instruction manual from Rel is unreadable jibberish.

 

[Andrew Everard]

You can use your Q150E with your stereo amp, no problem at all. Just connect the sub's high-level input, which is on a Neutrik Speakon connector, to the same speaker outputs as your main speakers. The sub should have come with a cable to do this - if not, REL should be able to supply one. The cable has three conductors - two go to the +/- speaker terminals for one channel (it doesn't matter which) - and the third connector goes to the + terminal on the other channel.

The cables have bare ends and can thus be twisted together with your existing cables if you're using bare wire connections on your main speaker cables, or clamped into your amp's combination terminals if you're using banana plugs on your main speaker cables.

In fact, Richard Lord, the founder of REL, always used to advocate this connection over line input, as he felt it preserved phase coherence better.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply. I have contaced Rel about a cable as I never received one when I purchased the subwoofer.

 

[Andrew Everard]

I can't recall whether they were supplied as standard or available as an option - I think it varied from model to model. But it shouldn't be too expensive if you decide to buy one

 

[Anonymous]

Hope this helps.

http://www.sumikoaudio.net/rel/manuals/REL-SET-UP.doc

All the best.